Poison - Jacqui Rose

THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE YOU SHOULD NEVER CROSS

In a life of crime, loyalty means everything – even if you don’t always see eye to eye. But when Vaughn Sadler speaks up to get Franny Doyle sent down, he’s broken every rule in the book to win checkmate.

AND OTHERS YOU SHOULDN’T UNDERESTIMATE…

Holed up in prison, Franny has more than one score to settle – but she’s starting with Vaughn. Because you don’t grass on your own, no matter what. And though she may be behind bars, she will get revenge – whatever the cost.

Before, there was just bad blood running through her veins. But now, there is poison…

Having read three other books by Jacqui Rose (Taken, Betrayed, and Fatal) I was excited to see another release by this great thriller writer. Poison centers on Franny Doyle but, as with Jacqui's other books, features recurring characters from previous stories.

Jacqui's books may be about tough gangland criminals but it's the women in the stories that are the featuring characters, the strong characters, the characters who get things done. Poison is no exception and is the story of Franny Doyle, set up and in prison for murder by someone who should know better. Poisoned by this betrayal Franny sets out to plot her release from prison and her revenge on the men who sent her there.

Poison is an absurdly addictive novel, one that is hard-hitting and, in places, incredibly hard to read. There are bent coppers, gangland criminals, teenage girls who are trying to escape sexual abuse and drug addiction at far too young an age - none of which make for pleasant reading half the time but lend a lot to the page-turning quality of not just Poison but all of Jacqui's books.

Poison can be read as a standalone novel but you may enjoy it more if you have previous knowledge of some of the characters, as events in previous books definitely contribute to what motivates them in this book. Poison is Jacqui's tenth book, the fourth book that I've read by her, and is just as addictive as the first one. I'm definitely going to go back and read the other books that I haven't and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for all of the characters, old and new.

Although I have very much enjoyed Poison - huge thanks to Avon for sending me a copy of the book, I have to end by saying that it won't be for everyone. There's mention of sexual abuse, drug use and addiction, and strong/graphic violence, but if you like hard-hitting thrillers with a dark edge to them, do try Jacqui's books. My recommendation would be to start with Taken if you can and then you can read the rest in any order you like.

Poison - Jacqui Rose

ISBN - 9780008366964

Publisher - Avon Books

Release Date - February 20th, 2020

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Kindle UK

The Neighbours - Nicola Gill

Meet Ginny, 34, and Cassie, 55. Neighbours, and (very) unlikely friends.

Some women have it all. Others are thirty-four, renting a tiny flat alone because they recently found their long-term boyfriend in bed with their boss. Unfortunately, the latter applies to Ginny Taylor. Single and jobless, Ginny is certain her life can’t get any worse. But then she encounters her downstairs neighbour for the very first time...

Cassie Frost is a woman who had it all – she was a once-loved actress, but a recent stint on reality TV has rocketed her to online infamy. She’s suddenly become a national hate figure – and she desperately needs a new publicist. And Ginny is a publicist who desperately needs a job... but can she be persuaded to work for the uber-difficult, excessively prickly woman that lives below her floorboards?

Because sometimes – just sometimes – bad neighbours become good friends...

A bit like family, you can't choose your neighbours. When you move somewhere new it's because you like the area, or because you love the house. Unfortunately, you don't get to interview prospective neighbours, which I think is a really big travesty, and this can be a recipe for disaster! 

Left reeling after a traumatic break-up with ex-boyfriend Jack, which left our heroine Ginny without a boyfriend and a job, she is reaching for the Twirl Bites like a madwoman in an effort to find herself again. The neighbour in question is Cassie Frost, actress and Jungle contestant, and who's recent antics mean she's found herself at rock bottom.

One is in her thirties and the other is in her fifties, you wouldn't think that they would have anything in common but Cassie and Ginny become the most unlikely of friends. Struggling to cope with being unemployed and the two French lovebirds who have replaced her former flat-mate, Ginny sees something in Cassie that most people don't - that she's human and just like any other person on the planet. The two women learn to accept each other through depression, job hunting, trouble with overwhelmed sisters and are two of the best aunts you could ask for.

There's no sugarcoating the problems each of the women has in their lives but we get to see it, warts and all, especially in Cassie's case. As an actress/celebrity, she's quite contemptuous of everyday life, especially where her sister is concerned, and her two out-of-control nephews. The best thing about The Neighbours is watching Ginny and Cassie both learning to accept themselves, learning to understand their sisters and families, and developing the most unlikely but most supportive friendship.

The Neighbours is a perfect weekend read if you're looking for something contemporary about women supporting each other, friendship, and romance. Any author who makes good use of Twirl Bites is a genius as far as I'm concerned, curled up with the bag Avon Books very kindly sent me with a copy of the book made for a perfect reading experience.

The Neighbours - Nicola Gill

ISBN - 9780008355395

Publisher - Avon Books

Release Date - February 6th, 2020

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Kindle UK

Liar Liar - Mel Sharratt

When a young boy is thrown from a balcony in a block of flats, DS Grace Allendale witnesses the shocking aftermath of the tragic event. But despite everything, no one will admit to seeing who did it – and the parents will only tell the police that it was an accident.

Determined to bring the perpetrator to justice, Grace must sort the truth from the lies in a case that takes her into the darkest corners of the criminal world – and strikes closer to home than she could have ever imagined…

Liar Liar is the third installment in the DS Grace Allendale series, and after events in the previous two books, Grace is still working in the community rather than working with the Major Crimes Team. In fact, Grace is so much happier that she's asked to stay with the Community liaison team. Some of her former colleagues see this as a sidewards step in her career but if it means she's not exposed to the antics of her criminally active, estranged family - especially half-brothers Eddie & Leon, so much the better!

Liar Liar starts with quite possibly the most horrific accident you can think of, a young boy falls from a walkway one floor up and nobody is sure if the little boy will live or, even more horrible to contemplate, whether it really was an accident as the parents are both claiming. Harrison House is known to both Grace and her DC, Frankie Higgins, and the residents who live there are all claiming 'I saw nothing...' but is that because a certain person is putting pressure on them? It's up to Grace and Frankie to get to the bottom of things and find out who might want to hurt an innocent little boy, especially if that little boy dies.

Liar Liar (DS Grace Allendale #3) - Mel Sharratt

ISBN -

Publisher - Avon Books

Release date: Paperback - March 19th, 2020

                    : Kindle - February 10th, 2020

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Kindle UK

Perfect Kill - Helen Fields

He had never heard himself scream before. It was terrifying.

Alone, trapped in the darkness and with no way out, Bart Campbell knows that his chances of being found alive are slim.

Drugged and kidnapped, the realisation soon dawns that he’s been locked inside a shipping container far from his Edinburgh home. But what Bart doesn’t yet know is that he’s now heading for France where his unspeakable fate is already sealed…

DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callanach are working on separate cases that soon collide as it becomes clear that the men and women being shipped to France are being traded for women trafficked into Scotland.

With so many lives at stake, they face an impossible task – but there’s no option of failure when Bart and so many others will soon be dead…

Perfect Kill is the sixth installment in the Callanach & Turner series, and one that I was very much looking forward to. Luc Callanach, half-French & half-Scotland with model good looks and a tarnished reputation, and Ava Turner, Scottish to the bone, privately educated, and loyal to a fault, are the dream team in the Edinburgh police force. They work incredibly well together, and their strengths complement each other to the point where if you're a criminal in their neck of the woods? Look out because they will find you...

The dynamic this time around is different though. Luc is back in his beloved France working on secondment with Interpol, whilst Ava remains in Scotland, working on what seem to be very different cases. At the end of the last book their 'will they won't they' situation was still very much in play. It's obvious to all, including themselves, that there is something between them but whether there will ever be a time for them to act on it remains to be seen. Ava is trying hard to put emotional distance between them, even sleeping with someone else, but when hit by some very hard news about her oldest and closest friend, it's Luc she turns to.

Perfect Kill is quite possibly the perfect crime novel. Illegal organ harvesting, human trafficking, inhumane 'races', kidnap, and prostitution, all of these are written with minute detail, and Helen Field doesn't hold back with the quite often graphic descriptions of these crimes. The research into these storylines shows clearly in Ms. Field's writing, and this combined with knowing that these are all things happening in the world today is what makes Perfect Kill a compelling and addictive read. 

Perfect Kill may be the sixth book in the series, but it works well on its own, and you don't need to have read the other books in the series. However, if you don't start with Perfect Remains and work your way through the rest you are missing out on some great writing, wonderful character development, and one of the best investigative teams I've read for a long time! More Callanach & Turner please, Helen Fields!

                                              

Perfect Kill (Callanach & Turner #6) - Helen Fields

ISBN - 9780008275242

Publisher - Avon

Release Date - February 6th, 2020

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Kindle UK

Come Back For Me - Heidi Perks

A shocking discovery. An island wrapped in secrets. You can bury the body but the truth will always surface...

A tiny island community is stunned by the discovery of a long-buried body.

For Stella Harvey, the news is doubly shocking. The body has been found in the garden of her childhood home - the home her family fled without explanation twenty-five years ago.

Now, questioning her past and desperate to unearth the truth, Stella returns to the isolated island. But she quickly finds that the community she left isn’t as welcoming as she remembers – and that people in it will go to any length to protect their secrets. One thing rings true…You can’t bury the truth forever.

Now You See Her was one of my favorite reads last year so I was very much looking forward to Come Back For Me. The synopsis sounded amazing, a remote island and a gloriously happy childhood don't sound like the things of nightmares but who knows what happens behind closed doors.

Stella, aged eleven, has had an idyllic childhood on the small island of Evergreen, but suddenly she and her older siblings, Danny and Bonnie, are being dragged away from the only home Stella has ever known in the middle of the night. At the age of eleven, the only thing Stella is worried about is whether she'll see her best friend Jill again and how unfair it is that they have to leave.

Fast forward twenty-five years and Evergreen Island is on the news. A body has been found. Not only that but where it's been found is on the perimeter of Stella's beloved childhood home, The Quay House. Leaving the island has fractured her family, her mother has died, her father is remarried and suffering from dementia, her sister is a mother and an alcoholic, and her brother Danny disappeared not long after they moved to the mainland. What Stella wants to know though is who is the body, and just why did they leave in the middle of a storm all those years ago.

Stella, now a family counsellor, makes the rash decision to return to the island to see if she can find out more about the body and maybe discover the truth behind their abrupt departure from their former home. Bonnie thinks this is quite possibly the worst idea Stella has ever had but it's not long before she is proved right. Somebody doesn't want Stella back on the island and it could be anybody. Her mother's best friend, the older lady who Stella's mother treated as a mother figure herself - Annie, Freya - the journalist who grew up on the island, Iona - Bonnie's best friend that last summer, anybody on the island!

Come Back For Me is told from two different points in time, 1993 and the present. We get to see Stella's family while they still were all together, and the present where we slowly uncover everything that has happened. Threatening notes start arriving and Stella genuinely becomes terrified that someone wants to kill her. It would appear that somebody will go to any lengths to keep the past very much in the past and that if there's a scapegoat to take the blame for the body, that will suit their purposes.

The tension of Come Back For Me starts on the first page and grips you all the way through to the very end. Some may find the pacing too slow and that it takes too long to get to the heart of the mystery but this is what I loved about the story. I was hooked all the way through though, I started reading at about 11pm and didn't put the book down until well after sunrise. It's incredibly atmospheric and almost Gothic in tone, the isolated island setting certainly added to this feeling as did the weather and the gloominess of the situation. I started trying to guess what had happened and who the body was but was left reeling by all of the revelations. I've never been so wrong about why something happened!

Come Back For Me is a superb follow-up to Now You See Me and Heidi's writing has proved yet again that she's one to watch. It's wonderfully written and has one of the most compelling and unique storyline's I've read this year. I can't wait to see what's next as Come Back For Me is going to be hard to beat!

Huge thanks to Rachel Kennedy & Century for a copy of the book, in exchange for an unbiased review. If you would like to read Come Back For Me it's out in hardback today and also available as an eBook. Find my review on Amazon here as well!

Come Back For Me - Heidi Perks

Publisher - Century

Release date: eBook - June 1st, Hardback, July 11th, 2019

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Kindle UK

About The Author

Heidi Perks lives by the sea in Bournemouth with her husband and two children.
Heidi graduated from Bournemouth University with a BA (Hons) in Retail Management, and then enjoyed a career in Marketing before leaving in 2012 to focus on both bringing up her family and writing.
Heidi successfully applied for a place on the inaugural Curtis Brown Creative online Novel Writing Course and after that dedicated her time to completing her first novel, Beneath The Surface.
She has a huge interest in what makes people tick and loves to write about family relationships, especially where some of the characters are slightly dysfunctional. 
Her second novel, Now You See Her was published by Century, part of the Penguin Random House group in 2018 and became a Sunday Times Bestseller and Richard and Judy book club pick. 
Her third novel Come Back For Me is out July 2019 and she is now writing her fourth to be released in 2020. Follow Heidi on Twitter here!

When I Lost You - Merilyn Davies

When a young couple are the lead suspects for the murder of their only child, Crime Analyst Carla Brown and DS Nell Jackson are assigned to investigate.

The evidence seems conclusive, but something just doesn’t feel right.

The case is quickly cast into doubt when the lead forensic pathologist starts receiving threatening letters – containing details only the police should know.

Who’s sending them? What do they want? And how did they get hold of the information?

As Carla and Nell dig deeper, it soon becomes clear that this case isn’t the first of its kind.

They must stop at nothing to find the truth – even if it hits close to home.

When a novel's prologue ends with the words "I did not kill my baby!" you get an idea in your head about how the story is going to go. On reading the synopsis too, you think that the book is about the couple who have lost their child and in a way it is. It's also so much more! 

When I Lost You starts with DS Jackson and DC Mackintosh called to a flat in Oxford over a reported death of an infant. Nell Jackson is convinced that it's another Sudden Infant Death but on arrival Eve Graham, the pathologist tells them it's murder, and not only that but it was the mother who killed the little girl. Nell Jackson is back at work after being stabbed thanks to a crime analyst missing a vital detail so when she finds out the new DCI wants her to work closely with Crime Analyst Carla Brown, she can't help but be resentful.

Nothing about this case is as straightforward as it seems. There are letters being written to the pathologist, essentially calling her a liar and accusing her of ensuring innocent women have been convicted thanks to her testimony. Nell and Carla aren't entirely sure what to believe as they both know Eve but what if she is getting it wrong?

When I Lost You is part police procedural and part psychological thriller, told in two different timelines simply titled Then and Now. It's quite confusing at first, especially if you don't realize that's the case, but this is what makes the story such compulsive reading. Then is about two girls living in a care home and being groomed by a local cafe owner, Now is about three women who may or may not know more than they're saying. Carla is closely linked to Eve because of Eve's husband Gerry who was her first sergeant and is utterly determined that Eve would not have deliberately allowed innocent women to be sent to prison.

When I Lost You is a wonderfully addictive story, with a unique plotline, and twists and turns that you don't see coming. I will admit to trying to guess who certain people were quite early on in the book but it soon became evident that I was completely wrong. It does become obvious at one point, who the 'guilty party' is, but this doesn't take anything away from the story and it was fascinating seeing the different strands of the story coming together to an explosive ending.

When I Lost You is a gripping tale of loss, wrongful conviction, and abuse, which if not handled in the right way, could be distressing but Merilyn Davies has created a page-turner of a first novel in a wonderful location. Having gone to Oxford it was nice to see someone write about things other than the gleaming spires and students! I very much enjoyed the developing relationship between Nell and Carla and sincerely hope we get to see more of them in the future!

Huge thanks to Rachel and Arrow for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest opinion of the book. If you want to try When I Lost You by Merilyn Davies it's currently available for the princely sum of 99 pence on Kindle UK and can be found here.

When I Lost You - Merilyn Davies

Publisher - Cornerstone Digital/Arrow

Release date: Kindle/eBook - July 1st, Paperback - August 22nd, 2019

Find - Goodreads | Kindle UK

About The Author

Merilyn Davies is a former Crime Analyst with the Metropolitan Police who worked as part of the violent and hate crime unit for eight years. She was inspired to write about strong women working in the police force thanks to the incredible women she encountered on the force and was fascinated to explore the relationship between civilians working in the force and police officers, drawing on her own experiences being married to a serving MET officer.

She decided to set her debut thriller in her home city of Oxford, but the action all takes place away from the dreaming spires in parts tourists don’t stop at. She studied Sociology at university and is fascinated with the manner in which society leads people down criminal paths. She was a co-founder of the Chipping Norton Literary Festival and now works for Oxford City Council. Follow Merilyn on Twitter @nellbelleandme

A Good Girl's Guide To Murder - Holly Jackson

The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?

Oh. My. Goodness. Everybody knows how much I like my YA thrillers and I've read a lot of them over the past couple of years as they've gained in popularity but A Good Girl's Guide To Murder (GGG from here on out!) is one of the best. It's also a debut which makes its 'grab you by the throat and don't let go'-ness even more astounding! I've been incredibly lucky with my reading recently in that everything I've picked up has been good and I've read it in one go. GGG was no exception, I picked it up at about 9pm and finished it at 1.30am - that's how good it is! I literally could not put it down.

I was desperate to know who did it, was it really Salil 'Sal' Singh, the boyfriend? He confessed by text message shortly before killing himself so everyone has accepted that as the universal truth, if in doubt it's the boyfriend. Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't convinced though so chooses this as her EPQ (Extended Project Qualification - equivalent to half an A Level) and sets about trying to discover what really happened to Andie Bell. Is it just me or does everyone immediately think of Erasure or Oasis when reading the name Andie Bell? Nope? Just me then...

Going against her advisor's warning not to contact the families involved Pip contacts Ravi Singh, Sal's younger brother, who is only too happy to help Pip with her investigation when he discovers that she thinks Sal might be innocent. Pip's best friend's sister was best friends with Sal so Pip feels invested in finding the truth if only to help Sal's family but there's definitely more to this case than meets the eye. Pip and Ravi are soon totally immersed in chasing down leads, interviewing people, and generally sticking their noses into places where they really shouldn't. Pip starts to receive threats by text message telling her to drop the investigation but of course, she's not going to. It's only when tragedy strikes that she stops what she's doing to try and keep her family and friends safe.

GGG is a rollercoaster of a thriller and I tell you now, there's no point trying to guess who did it if Sal didn't. There's misdirection on every page and you're never quite sure who's telling the truth and who's not. Pip starts to doubt everything and everybody, especially as her investigation starts leading her down a dangerous path. The story switches between third person and Pip's coursework documenting her finds. There are EPQ forms, maps, drawings, and interviews with people Pip thinks know the truth, all of which add to the page-turning power of GGG and make it an even more compulsive read. It has the perfect amount of moments that will make you gasp and at times you will want to yell at Pip for putting herself in danger, it will make you laugh out loud, and it will make you cry - well, it made me cry anyway...

If you're a fan of Serial, Veronica Mars and YA thrillers then A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is well worth investing your time in. My only doubt about it is, if GGG is this good as a debut then how on earth is Holly Jackson going to improve in her next novel?

A Good Girl's Guide To Murder - Holly Jackson

ISBN - 9781405293181

Publisher - Electric Monkey

Release date - May 2nd, 2019

Source - bought in bookshop

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Hive UK

The Quiet At The End Of The World - Lauren James

How far would you go to save those you love?

Lowrie and Shen are the youngest people on the planet after a virus caused global infertility. Closeted in a pocket of London and doted upon by a small, aging community, the pair spend their days mudlarking for artifacts from history and looking for treasure in their once-opulent mansion. 

Their idyllic life is torn apart when a secret is uncovered that threatens not only their family but humanity’s entire existence. Lowrie and Shen face an impossible choice: in the quiet at the end of the world, they must decide who to save and who to sacrifice...

I'm going to start this by saying I absolutely adored this book! I've loved all of Lauren's books but something about this one just stuck with me a bit more. Lowrie and Shen are the youngest people left alive on the entire planet after a virus struck causing permanent infertility and there's never been any success in finding a cure or discovering what caused it.

Lowrie is bisexual, torn between her feelings for Shen but not wanting to lose their friendship in case things don't work out, and Shen is Shen. Laidback, aware of his feelings but not pushing Lowrie, fully prepared to wait until she's ready - even if that takes forever!

I've seen this referred to as soft apocalyptic SF and I quite agree, there's no imminent danger but you do get the feeling time is running out. Everyone is carrying on as usual but after a rather shocking helicopter crash it's obvious things are starting to go wrong and it's going to be up to Shen and Lowrie to solve the problem.

The Quiet At The End Of The World is a beautiful blend of romance, science fiction, and philosophy. There's plenty of discussion about how to carry on the human race, about aliens and if they really are out there, and talk about infertility and how to solve it. There's so much to love about it, from lifeguard robots called Mitch to social media posts from the 21st century when the virus originally struck. I really liked how Lauren blended these tweets and FB messages into the main body of the story, and how Lowrie and Shen used them as a way of learning about history.

There are a couple of cracking twists in this book, which I didn't see coming, but they make the story so much more entertaining! And the nod to who Lowrie's ancestors were, and where they live, is both hilarious and jaw-dropping! I read this in one sitting, and I don't regret the lack of sleep at all. I'm looking forward to seeing what Lauren comes up with next.

The Quiet At The End Of The World - Lauren James

ISBN - 9781406375510

Publisher - Walker Books

Release date - March 7th, 2019

Source - Bought from bookshop

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Hive

Sophie Johnson: Detective Genius - Morag Hood & Ella Okstad

Sophie Johnson studied very hard to become a detective and it's a good thing she did – there has been a terrible crime!

Someone has stolen Lion's tail. Unfortunately, this means that Sophie doesn't have time to train her new (and not very good) assistant, Bella.

However, is it possible that, while Sophie is busy rounding up suspects, she doesn't see that Bella may be better than she thinks?

Following on from the joy that is Sophie Johnson: Unicorn Expert Sophie is now a fully qualified detective! She also has an assistant, Bella the dog, who naturally isn't as good as Sophie, but there isn't anyone else to fill the position!

Lion's tail has gone missing, believed stolen, and Sophie is busy interviewing suspects and taking fingerprints. In the meantime, Bella has her nose to the ground and finds the tail long before Sophie, but Sophie remains oblivious - as usual! It's obvious who is the better detective but Sophie has had training and she sometimes eats her vegetables.

Ella's wonderful illustrations bring the story to life and the two blend together seamlessly to make a fabulous tale that any little one will enjoy. There's a touch of humor on every page and some of the animal's expressions are priceless when they're watching Sophie follow all the wrong clues and question the wrong suspects. Sophie yet again misses what is happening right under her nose but it's okay because Bella is there to save the day. Sophie might think she's smarter, more hardworking, and observant but we all know she's not, and that adds to the charm of the story.

As with Sophie Johnson: Unicorn Expert, this is a great book read out loud and both children and adults will enjoy something on every page. Some of the illustrated hints might need some explanation to younger children who won't quite understand what they mean but this doesn't detract from the genius that is Bella, I mean Sophie! I'm very much looking forward to Sophie Johnson's next adventure, Morag and Ella have created something special in her and I think she'll become a firm favorite. Oh, and check out the title page. It shows a row of houses and shops, and it just so happens there are a detective agency and a unicorn emporium right next door to each other!

Sophie Johnson: Detective Genius - Morag Hood & Ella Okstad

ISBN - 9781471145650

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Release date - May 30th, 2019

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Hive UK

Sophie Johnson: Unicorn Expert - Morag Hood & Ella Okstad

A very funny story about a little girl who thinks she knows all there is to know about unicorns...
Sophie Johnson is an extremely endearing new picture book character, just bursting with information and knowledge that she is keen to pass on. She’s a self-confessed unicorn expert (among other things) and has dressed up her toys and pets with their own unique horns. Strange then, that she doesn’t seem to notice the real unicorn who has come into her house...

A wonderfully humorous story, from a new picture book dream-team, about a unicorn hiding in plain sight and a little girl who is totally oblivious to his presence!

There's a certain young lady I know who is mad about unicorns, she has unicorn books by the dozen but Sophie Johnson: Unicorn Expert stands out from the rest of the crowd! Sophie has seventeen unicorns, from her baby brother to the family dog to her stuffed toys - nobody is safe from having a unicorn head attached to their heads!

Sophie spends a lot of time looking after her unicorns - defending them, teaching them, and most time consuming, cleaning them. She's so busy looking after them that she doesn't notice when a real unicorn joins her in all of her adventures! It's a great way of showing littles how you have to look after something.

Both text and illustrations join together to make a fun read for all little (or not so little) fans of unicorns. It's a fun book to read out loud and to be shouted at by said little ones that they can see the unicorn, followed by lots of laughter that Sophie can't, because she is the expert.

I've read several of Morag Hood's picture books with the twins and read several other books illustrated by Ella Okstad and admired both. Ella's illustrations are fantastic and very much of the style that I wish I could draw! I'd like to applaud whoever put these two together as I think it's a stroke of genius!

If you'd like to see more of Ella's beautiful illustrations check out her Instagram page! Next up in the Sophie Johnson series is Sophie Johnson: Detective Genius and I'll be sharing my review and a guest post from Ella herself about coming up with the illustrations for Sophie.

Sophie Johnson: Unicorn Expert - Morag Hood & Ella Okstad

ISBN - 9781471145629

Publisher - Simon & Schuster

Release date - April 5th, 2018

Find - Goodreads | Book Depository | Hive UK

The Body In The Mist - Nick Louth

A brutal murder hints at a terrifying mystery, and this time it’s personal.

A body is found on a quiet lane in Exmoor, victim of a hit and run. He has no ID, no wallet, no phone, and – after being dragged along the road – no recognisable face.

Meanwhile, fresh from his last case, DCI Craig Gillard is unexpectedly called away to Devon on family business.

Gillard is soon embroiled when the car in question is traced to his aunt. As he delves deeper, a dark mystery reveals itself, haunted by family secrets, with repercussions Gillard could never have imagined.  

The past has never been deadlier.

Welcome to the third instalment of the DCI Gillard series by Nick Louth, and what an instalment it is! Gillard is now happily married to Sam, still puzzling over why such a beautiful woman would want a grizzly workaholic like him, when everything is threatened by one phone call. A deadly hit and run has taken place in Devon, the victim is unidentifiable but the car belongs to one of Gillard's aunts and he is summoned to Devon to sort out the whole sorry mess.

The story is told from two different sides, from Gillard's point of view as the one who's family is being investigated, and from DI Jan Talantire's as the official investigating officer determined to get to the bottom of the mystery. It's clear from the start that Gillard is highly uncomfortable being back in his aunts company, and the two women couldn't be more different. Trish is a former teacher, living in the house she shared with her ex-husband, Howie, who ran away to Thailand and Barbara, large in both stature and personality, running the family farm and struggling to make ends meet. Thrown in to complicate the situation further is Podge, or Uncle Phillip, a former reverend well known for his social injustice campaigning and now living in a nursing home, suffering from Alzheimer's and unable to walk.

It soon becomes clear that there is far more going on than what has already happened, and Gillard is dragged back into the nightmares of his childhood. Trying to deal with his abusive and abused aunts is more than he can bear but trying to distance himself is impossible and he's drawn back in almost against his will, bombarded with constant phone calls, having to drive back and forth to Devon, and discovering long buried family secrets, some of which are shocking even to Gillard as a serving police officer.

The Body In The Mist manages to be a well-written police procedural with multi-strand storylines converging together to make one of my favorite crime novels in a long time. Far from feeling spread out the various elements all weave together, forming a tight-knit tale which is impossible to put down, and impossible to predict who did it. Murders both old and new, a court case, and a sheep-killing beast are the main focus point of the book but it's the characters who balance out the story perfectly. Every single character, whether they're mentioned on every page or only appear once, is larger than life and not forgotten once you turn the last page. 

I'm exceedingly pleased that this is not my family but the person you have to feel sorry for throughout the entire novel is Sam, Gillard's wife. Deeply unsettled by his entire family, and especially the lecherous Podge, she starts to wonder just how well she knows her husband but stands by him and supports him through the whole case. I'm just not sure how supportive she'll continue to be given the twist in the tale, on the very last page, which will make you rethink and/or doubt everything you've just read. Brilliant! This series gets better with every book but you could also read this one without having read the first two as each is a separate story. I guarantee though, that you will want to go back to the beginning and read The Body In The Marsh anyway! Now starts the wait for book four...